LAHORE, May 22: An inquiry committee constituted by the National Assembly standing committee revealed in its report that some 200 Chinese locomotives were damaged by the use of substandard lubricant and overlooking the wear and tear, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

According to the report, delinquency of the railway authorities caused loss worth billions of rupees to the department.

The report said air filters and fuel filters of the engines were not changed for two years and used lubricants were injected in engines last year when the oil supply to the railways was ceased.

Crankshafts of 17 engines broke due to the use of substandard lubricant. “The price of one crankshaft is $74,000 and total repair cost of all engines has been estimated around Rs6.3 billion,” the report said.

Railway's former officers said the Chinese engines were deliberately made non-functional to ensure the import of the US engines.

The railway has borne a loss of Rs21 billion in a year due to the non-functioning of 200 engines.